Our valuation of our blessings should also benefit from the fact that we contribute little or nothing to them. Most times, it’s God’s doing from start to finish just like the Lord Jesus illustrated in one of his parables with the farmer who planted some seed. “He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” – Mark 4:27 (ESV) It’s not our place to grumble based on our understanding and expectations of size but to say, “Thank You, Lord!” There is also a hierarchy wrongly built by some Christians based on the nature of blessings. Ever notice that most testimonies in church are about physical and material blessings? I would imagine that the story will be the same for prayer lists. Most of the topics would probably be about money, health, job, education, relationship issues …. Spiritual attainments though not often celebrated are very important and our spiritual state facilitates our receipt and sustenance of physical and material blessings. So a...
Some time last year, I was led to write a short story. It concerned a young Christian woman who was depressed because she felt she wasn’t receiving “favour”. She was unhappy because, in her opinion, she was giving but wasn’t receiving. As she was beefing in prayer about this, a neighbour brought her five succulent mangoes. She loved mangoes very much but often missed them during their season due to constant official trips. It was not until she finished eating the mangoes that she realised they were God’s answer to her prayer for favour. She wanted an SUV, wads of cash and expensive gifts but she got mangoes, plucked free from her neighbour’s compound. You can read that funny story, if you wish, to get a better picture of the girl’s circumstances, the event that precipitated her depression, her complaints to God and her reaction to the gift she got. The story generated many responses from readers on Christians’ expectations with regard to blessings from God and the whole idea of ‘big...